Transcript Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men
By John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck (1902-1968)
• Won Pulitzer Prize for
Grapes of Wrath
(1939), East of Eden
(1952), and Of Mice
and Men (1937).
• Born in Salinas,
California
• Destination point for
dust bowl migration
• Received the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1962
John Steinbeck (Cont.)
• Was a voice for the poor and downtrodden
• Anti-Capitalism views
• Association with labor unions and leftist groups influenced his
writing and eventually lead to people believing in his
association with the communist party.
• “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see
themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily
embarrassed millionaires.”
Of Mice and Men (1937)
• According to the American Library Association Steinbeck was one of
the ten most frequently banned authors from 1990 to 2004, with Of
Mice and Men ranking sixth out of 100 such books in the United
States.
• “For too long the language of books was different from the language
of men. To the men I write about profanity is adornment and
ornament and is never vulgar and I try to write it so.”
• Of Mice and Men in particular contains euthanasia, racial slurs, antibusiness themes, and contains offensive language.
• Titled after Robert Burns poem titled To a Mouse, “The best laid
schemes of mice and men often go awry”
The Phalanx
• The literal meaning of the word Phalanx is a body of troops or
officers that are moving in close unison.
• Steinbeck argued that groups with intent, drive, and greater
goals are far superior to individuals and weaker groups that
simply “make it up.”
• Such groups tend to create far greater discipline among its
members—they tend to get desired results.
• His ideal group formation is one in which members act as
individuals but also contribute creatively to a harmonious
whole
Our Themes
You will be tracking themes through your dialogue journals as
you move through each section of the book.
• Gender stereotypes/norms
• Racial Discrimination
• Group Mentality vs. individuals—phalanx theory
• Loneliness and isolation
• My Brother’s Keeper
• A Dream Deferred
• “In every bit of honest writing in the world there
is a base theme. Try to understand men, if you
understand each other you will be kind to each
other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate
and nearly always leads to love. There are
shorter means, many of them. There is writing
promoting social change, writing punishing
injustice, writing in celebration of heroism, but
always that base theme. Try to understand each
other.”
-John Steinbeck, 1938